Device for closing containers



July- 17, 1962 F. c; LAW, JR

DEVICE FOR CLOSING CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 16, 1961 INVENTOR. FOSTER C.LAW,JR

5M WM Arrarncys United States Patent 3,044,073 DEVICE FOR CLOSENGCONTAINERS Foster C. Law, Jr., Atlanta, Ga, assignor to PeerlessCorporation, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Jan. 16,1961, Ser. No. 82,786 7 Claims. (Cl. 1--260) The present inventionrelates to a device for closing containers particularly those containerswithin which there is received relatively soft objects such as blanketsor the like.

It is well known in the art to close a cardboard container having flapsby folding down an opposite pair of those flaps and then folding downthe other opposite pair of flaps over the first pair. Various means maybe used for securing the flaps in place one of which may be the staplingthereof to one another. In order to properly use a stapling or stitchingdevice, the underneath flaps should be pressed against the outermost oruppermost flaps. It can be appreciated that if the box does not containa hard object or objects, it will, in many cases, be impossible tomaintain the underneath flaps in tight engagement with the outermostflaps.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide adevice capable of holding a lowermost or innermost flap of the cardboardbox against an outermost flap or flaps thereof in order to facilitatestapling of the flaps together.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improveddevice for closing a container.

Related objects and advantages will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

One embodiment of the device of the present invention comprises a flaplifter including a generally rectangular plate. An elongated tongue issecured to one face of the plate and extends in parallel relationthereto past one edge of the plate. The extending portion of the tongueis spaced from said face at said one edge by the thickness of a pair offlaps to be secured together and is generally perpendicular to the oneedge. The plate is provided with ridges which are parallel to the tongueand are located on the other face of the plate. The tongue is positionedgenerally between the ridges whereby a stapler can be positioned uponthe plate and between the ridges in order to deposit a staple over thetongue.

The method of using the present invention to close a rectangular boxhaving four closure flaps includes the steps of folding down oneopposite pair of the flaps and then folding down the other opposite pairof flaps over said one opposite pair. A next step comprises inserting asupport between the flaps of each pair and pivoting the support upwardlyagainst one flap of said one pair of flaps and downwardly against saidother pair of flaps in order to urge said one flap upwardly against saidother pair of flaps. A further step includes placing a stapler upon thesupport and stapling the other pair of flaps to said one flap.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the flap lifter of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container or box showing one of thesteps of the method of the present invention whereby the container isclosed.

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the lines 33 of FIG. 2 in the directionof the arrows, but showing a further step in the method of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3 in thedirection of the arrows.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the 3,M4,073 PatentedJuly 17, 1952 principles of the invention, reference will now be made tothe embodiment illustrated in the drawing and specific language will beused to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that nolimitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, suchalterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, andsuch further applications of the principles of the invention asillustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to oneskilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated aflap lifter constructed according to the present invention andcomprising a generally rectangular plate 10. Secured to one face 11 ofthe plate is a tongue 12 which extends in generally parallel relation tothe plate past one edge 15 thereof. In order to increase the strength ofthe tongue 12, it may be provided with a ridge 16 extending along thelength thereof.

The surface 17 of the extending portion of the tongue is spaced from theface 11 of the plate beginning at the edge 15 by a distance equal toapproximately the thickness of the pair of flaps to be secured together(see FIG. 3). The purpose of this shape of the tongue and locationthereof relative to the plate will become evident below as the method ofthe present invention is described. It should also be noted that thetongue is somewhat wider adjacent the plate at 20 in order to provideincreased strength at that location.

The plate 10 has a pair of downturned sharp corners 21 which extend inperpendicular relation to the plate on the'same side thereof as is thetongue 12. A pair of ridges 22 are formed in the plate on the face 23thereof and are spaced parallel to one another on opposite sides of thetongue 12. The distance between the ridges 22 is equal to the width of aconventional stapler.

In practice the flaps 25 and 26 of the box 27 are folded downwardly tothe position illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. In other words, the oppositeflaps 25 are first folded down and then the opposite flaps 26 are foldeddown over the flaps 25. The tongue 12 of the flap lifter is theninserted between the flaps in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2. In somecases, the flaps 25 will be of such a length that they will just aboutmeet and in such case i there will be only one place for the tongue.However, when the box is formed as illustrated with relatively shortflaps 25, it is preferable to insert the tongue just adjacent to aparticular one of the flaps 25.

Next, the flap lifter is pivoted to the position illustrated in FIGS. 3and 4 so that the tongue 12 moves below and against a particular one ofthe flaps 25 urging it upwardly. During the pivoting of the tongue tothis position, the plate 10 and particularly its edge 15 is held againstthe outermost flaps 26 holding them tightly against the innermost flap25. It can be appreciated that the downturned corners 21 of the plate 10will bite into the outermost flaps 26 during this pivoting operation sothat when the pivoting operation is completed, the flap lifter will befirmly seated in the position illustrated in FIG. 3 and locked againstmovement in a leftward direction by the downturned corners 21. The sharpcorners 21 also function to prevent separation of the flaps 26 eventhough the underneath flap 25 is held tightly thereagainst.

The corners 21 are arranged at 45 to the tongue which 3 will cause thetongue to be pivoted to a corresponding upward position which will holdthe particular innermost flap 25 hard against the flaps 26.

The stapler is then operated in conventional manner to place a staple3-1 through the flaps 26 and 25 as illustrated. It should be noted thatthe stapler should be of the type which curves or brings the legs 32 ofthe staple together without having any backing behind or below the flaps25 and 26. The ridges 22 function to position the gun so that the legsof the staple are projected on opposite sides of the tongue 12 thuspreventing the tongue from interfering with the stapling and providingsupport for the flaps precisely where needed.

The stapler is then moved along between the ridges 22 to place a furtherstaple or staples through the flaps 26 and the particular flap 25. Forexample, a further staple might be placed closer to the plate or closerto the edge of the box than the staple 31. Next, the

flap lifter is removed from the box and is reinserted in a similarfashion to that above described adjacent to the other flap 25. Thevarious steps above mentioned are then repeated in order to secure theflaps 26 to the other flap 25.

From the above description, it can be appreciated that the presentinvention provides an improved device for securing the flaps of a box inplace in order to close the box. 'It will be obvious that the inventionhas particular application to the situation where the objects within thebox are of'a relative soft'nature, such as, for example, blankets andthe like. Even so, the invention is also usein] where the box containshard objects because it makes unnecessary using the objects as a bearingsurface for the stapling operation which could result in damage to theobjects.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

1. A flap lifter comprising a plate, an elongated tongue a secured tosaid plate and projecting past oneiedge there-' of, said plate havingdownturned pointed corners at the endsof said one edge. 1

2. A flap lifter comprising a generally rectangular plate, an elongatedtongue secured to said plate in parallel relation thereto, said tongueprojecting past one edge of said plate in perpendicular relation.thereto, said plate having downturned pointed corners at the ends ofsaid one edge, projecting in perpendicular relation to said plate andarranged at 45 to said tongue.

3. A flap lifter comprising a generally rectangular plate, an elongatedtongue secured to said plate in parallel relation thereto, said tongueprojecting past one edge of said plate in perpendicular relationthereto, said plate having ridges parallel to said tongue and on theopposite side of said plate from said tongue, said tongue beingpositioned generally between said ridges whereby a stapler can bepositioned between said ridges to deposit a staple over said tongue.

4. A flap lifter for use in securing flaps together comprising agenerally rectangular plate, an elongated tongue secured to one face ofsaid plate and extending in parallel relation thereto past one edge ofsaid plate, the extending portion of said tongue being spaced from saidface at said one edge by the thickness of a pair of flaps to be securedtogether and being generally perpendicular to said one edge, said platehaving ridges parallel to said tongue and on the other face of saidplate, said tongue being positioned generally between said ridgeswhereby a stapler can be positioned between said ridges to deposit astaple over said tongue.

5. A flap lifter comprising a generally rectangular plate, an elongatedtongue secured to said plate in parallel relation thereto, said tongueprojecting past one edge of said plate in perpendicular relationthereto, said plate having ridges parallel to said tongue and on theopposite side of said plate from said tongue, said tongue beingpositioned generally between said ridges whereby a stapler can bepositioned between said ridges to deposit a staple over said tongue, andsaid plate having downturned pointed corners projecting in perpendicularrelation to said plate.

6. A flap lifter for use in securing flaps together comprising agenerally rectangular plate, an elongated tongue secured to one face ofsaid plate and extending in parallel relation thereto past one edge ofsaid plate, said plate having sharp corners at the opposite ends of saidone edge projecting away from said plate on the same side thereof assaid tongue is located, said plate being formed with ridges on the otherface of said plate for positioning a stapler to deposit a staplegenerally over said tongue.

7. A flap lifter comprising a plate, an elongated tongue projecting pastone edge of said plate, said plate having ridgesipa-rallel to said tonguand on the opposite side of said plate from said tongue, said tonguebeing positioned generally between said ridges whereby a stapler can bepositioned between said ridges to deposit a staple over said tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

